Saturday lunch at Ttukbangjip, a Sajik-dong pork grill in Cheongju
Ttukbangjip is a Korean pork grill restaurant on Musimseo-ro in Sajik-dong, Cheongju, where the meat is cooked over charcoal briquettes. Before a trip to Japan, the writer went in for a proper Korean lunch on a Saturday and ordered the charcoal gochujang pork for two (28,000 won), which arrives with a free earthenware pot of cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew). Grilled outside over charcoal the moment it is ordered, the pork at Ttukbangjip tastes deeply smoky, and with tangy pickled radish and sharp green onion salad it is a proper rice-stealer.